So far, anything related to Guardians of the Galaxy has divided fandom into two camps: this is going to rock, and this is going to suck, and the trailer was no exception. I happen to ally myself in the former’s camp, and if you’re like me that trailer left you wanting more. It also might have left you with some questions, questions that are, perhaps, best answered by the director. James Gunn has obliged in an interview today where he addressed a number of aspects concerning the highly-anticipated Marvel film that have come out of this first trailer.

In an interview with Total Film, Gunn discussed the various aspects of the film revealed throughout the trailer: the characters, the action, the humor and the use of Earth music classics from the 70s and 80s. Let’s break it down:

“There is probably no film that influenced me more as a child – no film that excited me more or that I loved more – than Raiders Of The Lost Ark. It not only influences how I see Guardians, it influences how I live my life.”

2) Now on to the character intros, and on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most bad ass, just how bad ass is Zoe Saldana?

“Zoe is about as un-intimidating as you can imagine! She gets in the zone the moment that cameras start filming – but before that she’s basically her loud, brash, completely lovable and goofball self. She got it easy with the makeup – it only took about four hours to put on, whereas it took Dave Bautista and KarenGillan six hours or more. Zoe and Karen are the two most hardass characters in the movie – they’re our Clint Eastwoods. It should take more than a few people by surprise.”

3) Why no clip of Rocket Raccoon featuring the voice of Bradley Cooper?

“We’ve recorded most of Bradley’s dialogue already. I suppose you would expect me to tell you he’s fantastic and his characterization of Rocket will blow your mind – so don’t believe me and just wait to see (or hear) it for yourself. In all truth, we hired Bradley because he’s able to do both comedy and drama – it’s the thing I look for most in the actors on all my films – and to truly sell Rocket – for you to believe a Raccoon can talk (and blow up and shoot tons of stuff) we need a well-rounded actor.”

4) What sets Groot apart from the rest of the Guardians?

“I love Groot so much I get teary eyed when I think of him sometimes. Essentially, all the Guardians start out the movie as bastards – except Groot. He’s an innocent. He’s a hundred percent deadly and a hundred percent sweet. He’s caught up in Rocket’s life, really.”

5) Speaking of bastards, I take it this team-up is not going to gel so easily?

“The Guardians are criminals, essentially – a thief, two thugs, a murderer, and a maniac. They end up in prison together. When you have those personalities all in one place at one time, you can imagine a scrap or two starting pretty easily.”

6) But Rocket and Groot are already a team at the start of the film, right?

“There is no doubt that the cinematic pinnacle of my career is our cameras circling around a maniacal raccoon shooting a machine gun on the back of a living tree. And I say this with as much modesty as I can muster – because certainly it is not me, but the hand of God guiding us all as we make this film – but it just may be the pinnacle of cinema in general. When we shot it we were twirling around an empty space in a giant set. But I think all of us could see the raccoon and the tree in our minds. They were already starting to form. I can’t wait to share them with everyone in August.”

7) What about the bad guys, like, say, Nebula (played by Karen Gillan) for example?

“I knew I wanted to add some shots of Nebula, as she’s super badass.”

8) Anyone else you wanted to reveal in the trailer, but didn’t?

“It’s important to add that we left out some of our coolest characters – Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker’s Yondu, and Glenn Close’s Nova Prime – because we want to save them for the full trailer in a couple months.”

9) That scene in the trailer where Star-Lord is piloting the ship, what’s up with that?

“At that point in the film, Star-Lord and the gang are facing off with a fleet of Ronan’s Necrocraft. Someone’s about to go down.”

10) “Obscene gesture alert.” Is there going to a lot of humor like that in the film?

“The movie has a lot of edgy humor, unusual for a comic book movie. But we were encouraged by Marvel to take risks, so we did. However, we never wanted the humor to get in the way of the fun or the emotional heart of the film – those things came first.”

11) And finally, “Hooked on a Feeling?” A Walkman? Really?

“‘Hooked On A Feeling’ is used in the movie. That and a lot of other old songs are on Quill’s mixed tape in his Sony Walkman. It’s one of the few things he has from Earth. I don’t think of it as a joke, because it’s very dear to him. It’s the umbilical cord that connects him to earth and the home and family he lost.”

Below, check out the new shots from the film released early today, and in case you missed, watch the trailer itself below that.

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